Titling an Air Conditioner in a Window with a Bottom Lip

We have a window AC that is supposed to be tilted back away from the window, so that the water drips out of the unit to the street below, rather than on the sill or in the room itself. But our windows are aluminum, and I am once again flummoxed by the flat metal lip that runs across the bottom of the window sill (or technically, the stool, since it’s on the inside of the widow frame). The problem is that with the bottom channel for the accordion curtain behind that lip (that is, in the channel where the sash sits), and the flange of the top channel resting against the interior side of the window sash, it guarantees that the air conditioner is basically level, or even slightly tilted toward the interior of the apartment. I’ve attached a picture showing the air conditioner sitting in this position, behind the lip. On the other hand, if I put the bottom channel on the interior side of the lip, the unit tilts too much, and it makes it hard to secure the AC, or insulate around it. Does anyone know how to make sure the unit tilts back? This is a problem I’ve had at every apartment I’ve ever rented. And even though it has to be a pretty common problem, I can’t find anything online about it. So help me, Brownstoners, please, help me! Thanks.

bigwayne

in Appliances 9 years and 10 months ago

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bigwayne | 9 years and 10 months ago

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Thanks very much for the responses. David, when you say that you put down wood behind the lip “so that the AC unit rests on it with a slight decline,” I assume you mean that the AC rest primarily on the lip itself rather than behind the lip on the wood, right? My thinking is that the only way you get the unit to tilt is to bring the bottom forward slightly, and that if you’re just keeping the bottom in the same place but raising it with the wood, it will stay level. Correct me if I’m wrong. But in that case why is the wood _just below_ the lip rather than even with it? It seems to me that again it’s not that the bottom is uneven that makes the unit tilt but rather that the bottom channel is just a little in front of the top channel.

dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 10 months ago

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Dave is right – but sometimes finding the right size wood is not the easiest. My windows made it slightly less wide than a 2×4 and i had to both cut and rip. What i would suggest is buying 2×2 or ix2 and cutting and stacking them to the height you need – sitting ever so slightly above the aluminum lip. And then with the unit now sitting on the wood instead of the aluminum frame, it can tilt back, but i always needed bricks and/or another hodge podge of height adjusting things on the outside window sill as i did not want to drill brackets into brownstone. When you have the wood on the inside and something else of the outside, you then have two points of force of the ac unit to rest and the unit does not get wedged around when you close the window. Each AC has an optimal tilt angle so best to read the directions. I find most people err on the side of too much tilt, but the way they are making new AC’s I think the recommend less tilt. nyc sport is right about that point. If this sounds like a lot of work, it kind of is and most people do it incorrectly and they have big gaps, inefficient units etc. That seems to be the norm around these parts. Handymen can sometimes be worth their weight in gold with these little frustrating projects you don’t do everyday.

nyc_sport | 9 years and 10 months ago

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A level unit is not a problem — modern window a/cs are designed to retain water — the fan splashes water against the coils the aid in cooling them. If it is truly tilting in, depending upon the unit you probably could drill new holes in the top casing and reposition the top bracket slightly forward. Or, while frowned upon by the manufacturers, you could drill a hole in the water pan to the rear of the fan (carefully, as you will kill the unit if you puncture the freon lines). I have taken the latter approach several times.

daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 10 months ago

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Common problem. What you have to do is get some wood to build up to a height just below that lip on the outside portion of the sill (assuming there is one) to a point just below that interior lip so that the AC unit rests on it with a slight decline to let the water run out. If you have no exterior sill ( it doesn’t have to be wider than a few inches) then you will have to use brackets fastened to the exterior of the house.